Prewrapped Wrap

I can think of nothing more elegant than a wrap to protect from air conditioner blasts and chilly nights, but the reality of wearing an ungainly rectangle can be a struggle. I have tried to arrange many a wrap so that it won’t slip off my shoulders or get tangled in the straps of my purse, and every time I think to myself, there must be a better way!

My Prewrapped Wrap was born from this conundrum. A simple rectangle shape with two corners removed, I then sewed two seams to create surprisingly flattering armholes. The effect is loose and versatile, like a wrap, but organized and simple, like a cardigan!

This richly textured, warm weather fabric is actually a three-yarn concoction: A gorgeous sheen and burst of color from Habu’s Linen Wrapped Silk; a matte, delightfully bumpy feel from Habu’s Cotton Nerimaki Slub; and a soft, woolly bloom from Purl Soho’s Line Weight.

Notes

You will knit this entire pattern holding together one strand of all three yarns.

Because this wrap is in reverse stockinette, the purl side of the fabric is the “right side”. Throughout the pattern I will refer to the sides of the fabric as the “knit side” and the “purl side” to avoid confusion.

Pattern

Left Front

Using the larger needles, cast on 75 stitches.

Row 1: Purl.

Row 2: Knit.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 23 inches from the cast on edge, ending with a purl row.

Back

Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 39 inches from original cast on edge, ending with a knit row.

Row 4 (purl side): Bind off 35 stitches, purl to end. [75 stitches]

Right Front

Working these 75 stitches…

Row 1 (knit side): Knit.

Row 2: Purl.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 62 inches from original cast on edge, ending with a knit row.

With the purl side facing you, bind off loosely until you have 1 stitch remaining on the right hand needle and no stitches on the left hand needle. Do not cut the yarns.

Neckline Ribbing

Turn the piece so that it is oriented like the picture above, with the long edge at the top and the purl side facing you. The remaining stitch from the bind off will be at the top right corner. Transfer this stitch to the smaller needle. Starting at point A (shown above) and ending at point B, pick up 241 stitches (2 stitches for every 3 rows). [242 stitches total]

Now working these 242 stitches…

Row 1 (knit side): *P2, k2, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, p2.

Row 2: *K2, p2, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, k2.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until ribbing measures 2 ½ inches.

Bind off loosely in pattern.

Cut yarns.

Center Back Ribbing

Turn the piece so it is oriented like the picture above, with the long ribbed edge at the bottom and the purl side facing you. With the smaller needles, starting at point C and ending at point D (shown above), pick up 64 stitches.

Sew Side Seams

Turn the piece once more so that the long side is at the top and the purl side is facing you. With the knit sides facing each other, fold point E to point E (shown above). Use a removable stitch marker, a safety pin or some scrap yarn to secure together the two points E.

Thread a tapestry needle with a 16-inch length of all three yarns. Insert the needle through both of the two points marked F (above), joining point F to point F.

Using Mattress Stitch, stitch the seam towards points E. Stop sewing when point E is joined to point E.

NOTE: Because you are joining a selvedge edge to a cast on edge, the number of horizontal bars on each side of the seam will not necessarily be the same. Make sure that you frequently check that the two sides of the seam are progressing evenly and will end simultaneously at points E.

You have just made the left armhole! Your work will look like this:

Repeat the same process on the right side: Secure points E, join point F to point F, and sew until you have reached points E.

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141 Responses to Prewrapped Wrap

Hi There,
I was thinking of making this using some cashmerino super chunky from my stash. When I knit up my swatch, I am getting about 3 stitches to the inch on size 11 needles. How do I figure out if I have enough yardage for the project? Is there a formula I can use? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for writing in! The yarn and needles you are using are achieving a vastly different gauge than the pattern. For this you will have to figure out your cast on amount based on the finished dimensions from the pattern and edit the pattern from there. Because you are using a larger yarn, your yardage requirement will be different from our pattern as well. Depending on size, I would say you’ll need 800-1200 yards. This is just a rough estimate though! Good luck on your project!

Thanks for writing in! A light worsted or worsted weight wool would look great in this cardigan. I suggest Anzula – For Better or Worsted. This yarn has a great drape, is soft and looks great on a US 7. Hope this helps!

I’ve made this in the original yarns and love, love, love it. I’m thinking about a lighter weight version with Habu Shosenshi Linen Paper. What can you recommend to add as another yarn to get the 5 sts/inch gauge? Thanks!

Thanks for writing in! I love that you’re being creative in yarn choice. I think that the Shosenshi paper is a bit thicker than all the yarns used in this project so I would try pairing it with one yarn only. Try the Line Weight or even the Linen Quill for more texture and variation. I hope you like my suggestions!

I adore this pattern – I’ve been looking for something like this for ages! Only problem is, I really want to do it in cotton for the summer and just in black. Please, can you tell me what I can use that would work?

This sounds like a great idea! I suggest you knit this in our Cotton Pure in color “Raven Black” held double with one strand of Line Weight in “Soft Black”. I think this would make the gauge required which is 5 stitches per inch. If this combo is too thick, take out the Line Weight and see if you can get gauge with just the Cotton Pure.

I LOVE this pattern! Thank you so much for sharing it! But can you please tell us how many yards are needed to make this, if one wanted to use just a single strand at the correct gauge, rather than stranding together 3 yarns? I’d like to try it a bit less chunky and a bit more drapey…. THANK YOU!

Hello I am considering making this in fieldstone grey line weight, khaki cotton slub and black linen wrapped silk. Looking at the colours on the computer screen it seems like the khaki would be a nice contrast to the grey and black. Can you comment on this combination. I am concerned the colours may look different on the screen than in person. Thank you.

Hello Trent,
Thanks for reaching out! This color combination sounds beautiful. Judging colors on computer screens is always tricky. Our photographers work hard to represent our yarn colors as accurately as possible and looking at these particular colors I would say they are pretty spot on. I agree that the khaki would be a nice contrast to the gray and black. I say go for it!
Warmly,
Marilla

Dear Gina: I have just graduated from scarves to more complex knitting. I don’t understand how to start the neck ribbing.

“Transfer this stitch to the smaller needle. Starting at point A (shown above) and ending at point B, pick up 241 stitches (2 stitches for every 3 rows). [242 stitches total] Now working these 242 stitches…”

Congratulations on graduating to more complex techniques! For this lovely wrap, you will need to pick up stitches along the front edges and neck to create the ribbing. We have a handy tutorial on how to pick up stitches and it can be found here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/picking-up-stitches/

Thanks for writing in! For this lovely wrap Cashmere Merino Bloom would be a closer choice for the thickness of the yarn. Held together, the 3 yarns used here create, roughly, a DK weight. Worsted Twist is a bit to heavy to achieve the same look and drape. Mulberry Merino might also be a good option but I do think that the Cashmere Merino Bloom will be lovely for this wrap!

Hello Michelle,
Thank you for writing us! For this pattern you will need approximately 4 skeins of Cashmere Merino Bloom to complete this project. You are correct this wrap is one size. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Warmly,
Marilla

Thanks for writing in! While we do not have a photo of someone wearing this lovely wrap, there are a fair number of knitters who have posted images of themselves wearing their completed wraps on Ravelry. I quite enjoy looking through them and I think that it would be helpful for you as well!

Thanks for writing in! I do think that you will be short on yardage. If you would like to use a single yarn for this pattern, we used 760 yards of a DK weight yarn. If you want to hold two strands of fingering weight held together, you would need 1520 yards. As you have only about 60% of the yardage, I do not think that the amount of yarn that you have will work here. You could find a similar amount of yarn in a fingering weight and hold the two strands together!

Thanks for reaching out! While we do think this is a one-size-fits-many wrap, if you would like to make it larger, an easy way to make the wrap wider would be to add more rows during the “Back” section. For example, if you wanted to make the wrap 2 inches wider in total, you would knit the back section until the entire piece measures 41 inches from the cast on edge, instead of 39 inches (because 39 plus 2 equals 41). If you are getting exactly the same row gauge as the pattern, that would be an additional 15 rows. Then when you make the Center Back Ribbing and the Neckline Ribbing, you will need to pick up more stitches to compensate for the width you added. I hope that information is helpful! Please let me know if I can clarify further! Thank you for your question.

Hello Kathleen,
Thank you for reaching out! DK stands for Double Knit and refers to how thick the yarn is and what gauge it knits up to. DK yarns are thicker than sport weight, but thinner than worsted weight.
Warmly,
-Marilla

It looks like you don’t have any further inventory of the Habu yarns required for this project. Will you be getting any more in? Or, can you recommend substitutes for a similar weight/summer wrap?
Thank you!

Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, we no longer carry the Linen Wrapped Silk, but I think you could easily substitute either Habu Flat Silk Wrapped Silk or Silk Wrap Paper for that pop of color. The Nerimaki Cotton Slub is in stock, and although Line Weight in Ballet Pink is out of stock, we will be restocking it as soon as we receive a shipment from our manufacturer! You could also substitute a different color of Line Weight if you prefer.

Hello from Texas! Thank you so much for this lovely pattern and tutorial. I’m so grateful for the time taken to do so much for everyone. I am not very good at knitting with multiple strands of yarn, and I would love to make this for my sister. It reminds me of the old “bed jackets” women used to wear. Would a DK weight yarn give me the right gauge? I’m a fairly loose knitter and my sister is a big Texas gal so I want it to be big enough. Again, thanks so much!!

Hello Karen,
Thank you for writing and for your kind words! You are spot on, a single strand DK yarn will work beautifully with this project.
I would reccomend knitting up a gauge swatch before jumping in to avoid any surprises along the way, but it should work great.
I hope this helps and let us know if you have any further questions along the way!
Happy knitting,
Marilla

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